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On Wednesday night, several of the nation’s top high school basketball players gathered in Chicago to play in the McDonald’s All-American game, and since it was in the Windy City, I attended media day and landed exclusive interviews with each and every top prospect on the docket.  Austin Rivers, Mike Gilchrist, James McAdoo, Anthony Davis—I met and spoke with all of them in hopes of passing it all on to the faithful HOOPSWORLD readers that are anxious to find out which names likely will be atop the NBA draft board in the summer of 2012.

But then I got home and realized I had nothing but blank audio tracks on my hand recorder.  Turns out my microphone picked McDonald’s All-American media day as the day to roll over and die.

Still, I spent all that time immersed in high school basketball and college recruiting, talking with players and other members of the media about where all these guys ended up, and I just felt the need to salvage something from my time spent with all those talented high-schoolers.

There are no quotes here, no interview-driven material, but I know enough now to rate the top colleges in terms of their recruits, especially because one school in particular is good enough to rival Michigan’s Fab Five.  And no, that’s not an overstatement.

So what follows is a list of the top recruits for the 2011-2012 college basketball season (and most likely the 2012 NBA Draft).  I rated them based on two things, with the first obviously being which teams got the best overall players.  What got teams into my top five, however, was the ability to supplement those single great players with other high-profile talent.  One top prospect is commendable.  Two is excellent.  More than that?  Well, you’ll see…

*The numbers in parentheses are the player rankings on various top 100 recruits lists.  The first number is the player’s ranking from Rivals.com, the second is from ESPNU, and the third is from Scout.com.  Also, in each list of recruits, I’ve listed the higher ranked recruits first.

#5 – St. John’s University –Jakarr Sampson (44,35,31), Maurice Harkless (45,41,46), Sir’Dominic Pointer (81,34,40), Amir Garrett (51, 95, 76), Norvel Pelle (19, 75, 69), D’Angelo Harrison (41,62,59),  Nurideen Lindsey

There are plenty of people out there who would be appalled that this group of recruits, which includes six players who are consensus top 100 guys, isn’t rated higher on this list, but each of the schools ranked 1-4 all have not one but two or more top-flight recruits coming to their team.  This St. John’s group is prolific, to be sure, but the lack of any single five-star recruit makes it hard to rate them higher than this.  That said, how often do teams scrape together six top-100 recruits?  Seriously, when does that ever happen?

#4 – Syracuse University – Rakeem Christmas (12,16,16), Michael Carter-Williams (16,18,30), Trevor Cooney (N/A,61,68)

Christmas is the top-rated center in the country, even though he’s probably going to end up playing power forward, and Williams is one of the most electric two-guards in the class.  Both guys have NBA written all over them, and they both talk big about getting Syracuse back to elite status.  Trevor Cooney’s addition sweetens an already pretty sweet pot, and the three of them should be good enough to help the Orangemen make a deep run in the 2012 NCAA tournament.  At least, that’s what they’re hoping for.

#3 – University of North Carolina – James McAdoo (8,5,7), P.J. Hairston (14,13,20)

McAdoo, the nephew of NBA great Bob McAdoo, is probably my favorite player from this class, despite the fact he’s rated a little lower than some of the other flashier and more athletic players on the list.  Interestingly enough, McAdoo seriously considered graduating high school a year early and heading to Chapel Hill as a 17-year-old.  He didn’t (though the Tar Heels probably wish that he would have), and now this really mature kid is a year older, a year stronger, and probably more ready for college hoops than any other player in the class.  Team him up with Hairston, another great kid with loads of maturity, and you’ve got yourself a fantastic couple of freshmen.  In fact, their 1-2 is better than the #2 team’s on this list, but in this case, two guys just isn’t enough to compete the 2011 recruiting class of the Duke Blue Devils.

#2 – Duke University – Austin Rivers (1,1,3), Quinn Cook (28,39,21), Michael Gbinije (31,28,23), Marshall Plumlee (82,37,67)

{AUTHOR_BOX}Both Miles and Mason Plumlee are Duke players, so younger brother Marshall didn’t really have much choice but to join the family team.  That means there will be three Plumlees on the same squad next year, which doesn’t happen often.  And the amazing thing is that’s not even the most amazing thing about this team.  The truth is, Marshall Plumlee is the lowest-rated of the team’s four recruits, with Austin Rivers (Doc’s son), the real prize as the top high school player in the country.  Cook and Gbinije are also going to be fantastic players, and the group of them keeps the team stocked with the loss of important pieces like Kyrie Irving, Kyle Singler, and Nolan Smith.

#1 – University of Kentucky – Anthony Davis (6,2,1), Michael Gilchrist (3,3,4), Marquis Teague (2,8,6), Kyle Wiltjer (25,15,21)

Not one, not two, but three top-10 recruits, and another top-25 recruit tossed in for good measure.  There have been other recruiting classes this good in the past, and while this one might not be quite as insane as the Fab Five, who had four top-10 recruits end up at the same school, it’s still pretty ridiculous.  Davis, who has grown 7 inches since his junior year, is one of the top shot-blockers and rebounders in the country and he’s still settling into his body.  Gilchrist is a physically mature scorer that some consider the best all-around high school player in the country, and Teague, the younger brother of Atlanta Hawks guard Jeff Teague, is a quick and crafty point guard that some would say is the best in the class.  The Wildcats made the Final Four this year without these four guys—what can they do with them?

Honorable Mention

University of Arizona – Josiah Turner (10, 26, 15), Nick Johnson (40, 23, 33),  Angelo Chol (76, 67, 42), Sidiki Johnson (71, 69, 74)

At media day, I overheard Oklahoma State recruit and top prospect LeBryan Nash say that he really considered going to Arizona next year, but they had already loaded up on too much talent for him to get the burn he felt like he needed.  That’s how loaded this ‘Zona team is.  Turner, a scoring point guard, is the big catch for U of A.  Johnson, a home-grown Arizona product, is extremely athletic and known for being something of a human highlight reel.  Those two guys plus two other top-75 recruits means Arizona’s trip to the Elite 8 this season might just be an appetizer for things to come.

Louisville – Chane Behanan (23,27,27), Wayne Blackshear (32,17,12), Zach Price (72,52,57), Angel Nunez

Rick Pitino has brought in a stellar group headlined by Behanan and Blackshear, two forwards that will anchor a Louisville team that ended 2011 in an extremely disappointing manner.  Between the Kentucky university in Louisville and the one in Lexington, it looks like the bluegrass state seriously cleaned up.

University of Texas – Myck Kabongo (24,9,11), Sheldon McClellan (52,50,39), Jonathan Holmes (83,59,66), Julien Lewis (96,80,88)

Not only is the name "Myck Kabongo" the most fun name to say of any 2011 prospect, he’s also one of the most fun players to watch.  The kid has serious handles and has a boisterous personality to go along with a boisterous game.  Three other top-100 recruits keep the Longhorns more than relevant, despite losing their commitment from top prospect DeAndre Daniels.  They would’ve loved to have had him, but they’ll be strong regardless.

It’s really easy to caught up in the madness of high school recruits committing to college teams, especially when something like the McDonald’s All-American game brings attention on these kids to the forefront.  Look back at any McDonald’s roster and just count all the guys that ended up in the NBA.  These are names you’re going to hear a lot more of in the next year or two.

And if my hand recorder hadn’t broken down, I could’ve done so much more in informing you what these guys are all about.  Hopefully this is an affable to start to what is sure to be long and informative coverage of these young players.  Get ready for Austin Rivers, world.  James McAdoo, too.  They’re coming soon to a university near you.